Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

Should we not go further than this? In the past five years Ireland — the cities of Dublin and Limerick in particular — has seen a phenomenal rise in organised gang-related crime. Fuelled by the massive amounts of money to be made from the trafficking and sale of drugs, gangland crimes have resulted in a dramatic increase in gun-related murders. We need to send a clear message to the members of criminal gangs that crime does not pay. Unfortunately, at present crime pays handsomely here. A few weeks ago, the Minister will have heard in this House, stories of criminals claiming social welfare payments while driving around in SUVs. These are the ones who are the driving force behind the gang-related violence we are currently experiencing.

There is no doubt CAB has done good work in recent years but, by its nature, it is a centralised and limited operation, notwithstanding the trained criminal assets profilers. It is time to consider the establishment of sub-offices throughout the country. In the United Kingdom the Serious Organised Crime Agency works closely with the police force with regard to intelligence and operations at national level as well as the work of police forces at local level. This link at local level is not strong enough in the Irish situation.

Does the Minister agree that the setting up of local bureaux in some or all of the Garda divisions would send a strong message to the criminal community that CAB is not only interested in high-profile drug barons in Dublin but that it and the Garda Síochána is fighting organised crime in every corner of the country?

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